Chevron Profit Hit By Lower Crude Oil Volume And Prices

Energy maker Chevron Chevron, the nation's second-largest oil producer, reported disappointing first quarter earnings results Friday morning, posting a 27% dip in profit and a revenue figure that fell well below what Street analysts were predicting.

Chevron reported $53.3 billion in total revenue (including income from equity affiliates), a $3.5 billion drop from the year-ago period and more than $10 billion less than the $66 billion analyst consensus. The company's first quarter profit fell 27% to $4.5 billion, or $2.36 per share, a figure that missed Street estimates of $2.53 per share and marks a 26% decline over the $3.18 in earnings per share reported for the same time in 2013.

"Our first quarter earnings were down from a year ago, primarily due to lower prices and volumes for crude oil," John Watson, Chevron chairman and CEO, said in a statement Friday morning. "Crude prices were tempered by global economic factors, while our current year production volumes were affected by weather-related, unplanned downtime, particularly in Kazakhstan."

The company produced 2.59 million barrels of oil equivalent per day during the quarter, down 33,000 barrels from the same time in 2013. Chevron said that this figure resulted from production increases from project ramp-ups in Nigeria, Angola and the United States that were more than offset by normal field declines and the weather-related unplanned downtime in Kazakhstan that Watson referenced.

Earlier in the week, Chevron announced that it is upping its quarterly dividend by 7% to $1.07 per share, to be made payable in June, details that the company reiterated in its Friday morning earnings report.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2014, Chevron did not provide specific financial guidance but CEO Watson did highlight projects and growth that he sees in the pipeline.

"Significant progress has been made on the construction of our Gorgon and Wheatstone projects in Australia. Our Jack/St. Malo and Big Foot projects in the Gulf of Mexico are also progressing, with first production planned for late 2014 and mid-2015, respectively," he said. "Our financial strength continues to allow us to fund these important growth projects which are expected to support a 20 percent increase in production by 2017, and to grow shareholder distributions."

Following the release of the earnings report, shares of Chevron fell 1.5% in Friday's pre-market trading session. Year-to-date, the stock is up just 0.6%.